Image was shared on Instagram. (Courtesy: trishakrishnan )
Actress Trisha Krishnan strongly condemned the derogatory remarks made by Leo co-star Mansoor Ali Khan. Both Mansoor and Trisha were part of the Lokesh Kanagaraj blockbuster headlined by Thalapathy Vijay. While Mansoor and Trisha didn't share any screen space in Leo, the 61-year-old made “disrespectful” remarks, expressing regret over not having a “bedroom scene” with Trisha. In addition to this, Mansoor also mentioned having performed numerous “rape scenes” in the past. Trisha, on Saturday, shared a note on X (formerly Twitter), and called his remarks, “sexist, disrespectful, misogynistic, repulsive and in bad taste.” Vowing to never work with him again, Trisha said, “A recent video has come to my notice where Mr Mansoor Ali Khan has spoken about me in a vile and disgusting manner. I strongly condemn this and find it sexist, disrespectful, misogynistic, repulsive and in bad taste. He can keep wishing but I am grateful never to have shared screen space with someone as pathetic as him and I will make sure it never happens for the rest of my film career as well. People like him bring a bad name to mankind.”
As per news agency ANI, Mansoor Ali Khan in his interview said [in Tamil]: "When I heard that I was acting with Trisha, I thought there would be a bedroom scene in the film. I thought that I could carry her to the bedroom just like I did with other actresses in my earlier movies. I have done so many rape scenes in a number of movies and it's not new to me. But these guys didn't even show Trisha to me on the sets during the Kashmir schedule."
Take a look at the video here:
Following Trisha's tweet, Leo director Lokesh Kanagaraj also came out in support of the actress. Lokesh condemned Mansoor Ali Khan's behaviour. The director wrote, “Disheartened and enraged to hear the misogynistic comments made by Mr Mansoor Ali Khan, given that we all worked in the same team. Respect for women, fellow artists and professionals should be non-negotiable in any industry and I absolutely condemn this behaviour.”
Several prominent names came out in support of Trisha Krishnan. Indian playback singer Chinmayi Sripada shared Mansoor Ali Khan's viral interview video along with a lengthy note. She said, “The thing about men like Mansoor Ali Khan - they have always been talking like this. Never been condemned, with other men in power, money and influence laughing along. Robo Shankar said something about how he wanted to be allowed to touch the actress; the actress had no idea what was being said but if I remember until a journalist called him out, everyone else was smiling even if they felt comfortable enough to share displeasure. The entire audience cheered. Cool Suresh in some event with MAK ended up behaving badly with the co-host. He apologised and said yeah yeah I'll take responsibility it is not Mansoor's fault. But this behaviour has been normalised forever. I remember Radha Ravi calling ‘villain' actors to rape more.”
Check out the complete note here:
Calling Mansoor Ali Khan's statement "disgusting", actress Malavika Mohanan said: "This is disgusting on so many levels. It's shameful enough that this is how this man views women & thinks about them, but then to have the guts(!!) to speak about it this openly & unapologetically, not even worried about repercussions?? Shame on you. Despicable beyond belief.
After the social media uproar, a statement of sorts from Mansoor Ali Khan was also shared, in which the actor said that the video was edited and that he was joking. Sharing the statement, trade analyst Ramesh Bala quoted Mansoor and wrote, "'Since I didn't get those scenes...I spoke in lighter vain. I respect my female co-stars... Trisha saw an edited version... If anyone played mischief, I won't be cowed down...My daughter is a fan of Trisha...Focus on other issues...': #MansoorAliKhan 's pathetic rejoinder."
Meanwhile, Leo also featured Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Sarja among others. The film hit the theatres on October 19.